US seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 0.3 % in October, the Commerce Department said.
The decrease was larger than the forecasts of Wall Street economists, who had expected retail sales to fall 0.1%.
Auto sales fell 1.9 % and excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.2 %, in-line with Wall Street forecasts.
Sales fell 0.4 % in September, much stronger than the 0.2 % decline originally reported. Sales were mixed across sectors in October.
This fall in retail sales adds to the general negative investor sentiment in the US due to economic reports yesterday which showed the number of new claims for unemployment benefit rose above economists' estimates and that Wal-Mart had reported earnings of less than expected.